


Meant For the Sea

by magicites



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: F/F, Graphic Descriptions of Injuries, mermaid au, not actually all that shippy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-28
Updated: 2014-08-28
Packaged: 2018-02-15 02:07:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2211771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicites/pseuds/magicites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shiemi has heard countless tales about this creature – this mermaid -  in front of her. They are beautiful, yes, but incredibly deadly. They attack humans on sight, and will mercilessly tear even the tiniest of children to pieces. They do not kill for food. They kill for fun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meant For the Sea

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wrote it for a prompt on Tumblr, but I decided to cross-post it here too.
> 
> I don't know what I like so much about someone getting injured and needing another person to bandage their wounds, but I keep falling back on this trope.

Shiemi dances her way down to the shore. She no longer looks down at the rocks beneath her feet as she moves closer to the water. Calloused feet protect her from jagged edges, and years of mistakes guide her steps, preventing her from stepping on unsteady rocks.

There is sand between her toes, and an ocean breeze in her face. She smells the sea on the wind, cool and salty. The water is a cool, inviting blue. White foam laps at the sand.

It is beautiful, like always. It is home.

She hears a loud splash. It’s a unique sound, nothing like the splashes she hears when she runs into the water and lets the ocean try to pull her away. This is heavier, thicker.

She’s heard the sound before, actually. A few years back she found a beached dolphin whose front half was nearly buried in the sand. Its tail flapped uselessly against the water. She helped it back in and watched as the sleek, gray body disappear back into the sea.

She climbs into the small, secluded cove that seems to amplify the sound, and quickly realizes that this situation is nothing like before. There is no helpless dolphin here.

The first thing she notices is a pair of burgundy eyes glaring pure death at her. Tears gather at the corners, but they make the eyes look glassy and cold. She feels hatred like daggers against her skin.

What she notices next are the teeth – strangely white, and razor-sharp. Every single fang is on display. They could rip her to shreds in a second.

There are many other things about the creature’s body that she notices, but the one that fills her with pain is the long, bloody gash that cuts straight across beautiful, iridescent purple scales.

Shiemi has heard countless tales about this creature – this mermaid -  in front of her. They are beautiful, yes, but incredibly deadly. They attack humans on sight, and will mercilessly tear even the tiniest of children to pieces. They do not kill for food. They kill for fun.

The mermaid swipes forward at her, webbed fingers and sharp, claw-like nails extended right at Shiemi’s face, but her expression twists in pain as her body lunges forward. She loses her balance, and nearly slams her face into a rock. Her forearm, partially covered in the same scales that decorate her tail, takes the brunt of the damage instead.

She should run. She should leave this place and just pretend that she never saw anything. She and her mother are the only ones who live on this beach. Her mother never visits the shoreline; there is no one she needs to warn. No one but this mermaid would suffer if she left.

But if she left, this mermaid would suffer. Monster or not, Shiemi can’t ignore the fresh blood still seeping out of the mermaid’s wound or how she winces in pain each time the tide washes up over her tail.

“P-please,” Shiemi begins in a shaky voice, “stay there. I-I’m going t-to go get something. To h-help.”

The mermaid looks at her with narrowed eyes. She pushes herself back up, and though her arms shake, she holds herself in place. Her body is one tense, crooked line. Shiemi backs away one step at a time, never turning away from the mermaid. Her heart pounds in her chest. Terror floods her veins, but she knows that she has to help. She’s no murderer.

When the mermaid is out of her view, she turns around and sprints back to her small house. Her mother is –thankfully – shopping in town, so she can run through the house without risking any sort of interrogation. She grabs a small basket and fills it full of first aid materials. As she checks through her supplies, she grabs a few empty bottles just in case. She doesn’t know how to treat a mermaid’s injuries, but she figures that it can’t be that different from treating a human’s injuries.

When she returns to the cove, the mermaid is still there. Her wound is still fresh, and the sand around her is still stained a bright red, but there is less than before. She is unsure if this is good.

“I-I’m back!” She stutters. “Please don’t hurt me. I’m here to help…” She holds up the basket for emphasis, as if the rolls of gauze and bottles of peroxide could translate across their obvious language barrier.

The mermaid bares her teeth again. She hisses a collection of sounds that sound entirely foreign to Shiemi’s ears save for the undeniable waver in her voice. She recognizes it, hears it reflected in her own voice.

Somehow, that gives her the courage to step forward. She crouches a few feet away from the mermaid, just outside of her reach. She pushes the basket towards her, allowing her to inspect it. She pushes herself away from it at first. Upon realizing that it will not actually kill her, she leans onto her injured arm with a wince to allow the other to root through the basket. She picks up each individual item and carefully examines it. She turns it in her hands, squeezes whatever she can, and even brings one to her nose to sniff.

She sniffs the peroxide, and with a grimace, throws it back in the basket. Once she finishes her examination, she focuses her gaze back on Shiemi. The mermaid seems curious now, as if wondering what the purpose of the basket is.

Shiemi slowly crawls closer, only a few inches at a time. The mermaid leans away from her, but she doesn’t attack, and she doesn’t try to escape. The fins on her tail gently move in and out of the water. Not quite relaxed, but not fully tense, either.

Shiemi gets close enough to touch her. She reaches into the basket and pulls out a rag and a bottle of fresh water. She wets the rag, and holds it up to the mermaid’s face, allowing her to inspect it. “I need to wipe the blood off of you,” she explains, knowing that her words will fall on deaf ears.

When she finally moves away, Shiemi scoots the tiniest bit closer. She can touch the mermaid’s side now. The gash is right where her hip would be, if she was a human. The wound must reopen whenever she kicks her tail too hard, Shiemi notes with a frown. Her eyes flick up to meet the mermaid’s – they are full of wariness, but the hatred has all but left – and reaches over her.

She grabs Shiemi’s arm instantly. Sharp claws dig into the soft flesh of her wrist, and she yelps in pain. The mermaid loosens her grip just enough to stop the pain, but not enough to let Shiemi move.

“I just want to help you,” Shiemi murmurs quietly. “I won’t hurt you.”

It must be something in the way she says it that convinces the mermaid to let her move. Their words may not be the same, but their emotions are universal.

She gently wipes the blood off of her scales, careful to avoid the wound. The mermaid picks up on what Shiemi’s trying to do after a few moments, and snatches the rag from her so she can clean it herself. The wet scales glisten in an array of purples, reds, and blues. Shiemi’s never seen anything like it before.

When the excess blood is gone, the mermaid thrusts the rag into Shiemi’s face. She takes it with a small giggle, and rinses it with some fresh water. The box of supplies is almost intimidating now. She doesn’t know what quite to pull out next.

The mermaid jabs a finger at the basket, and then at Shiemi’s chest, hissing something the entire time. Her voice, as much as it wavers and echoes, sounds irritated. Shiemi murmurs a hurried apology as she grabs the bottle of peroxide and douses a couple of cotton balls in the liquid.

“This is going to sting!” The mermaid blinks at her when she hands her the cotton balls. She holds them up close to her face, and even gives one a small sniff. She nearly throws it into the water, but Shiemi dives for her hands and covers them with her own. “Don’t! You need those.”

The mermaid glares at her. Slowly, Shiemi lets go of her and moves back to her original spot. They stare at each other. She needs the mermaid to disinfect her wound, and she obviously won’t let Shiemi do it herself. There has to be a way to communicate what to do next.

Shiemi glances over to the remaining cotton balls, and smiles. She grabs one and pats it against her hip in roughly the same place that the mermaid’s wound is. She repeats the motion over and over, hoping for the mermaid to catch on.

Eventually, she does. She carefully taps the damp ball against her wound, and hisses in pain. She nearly throws the wad into the water, but Shiemi makes a strangled noise and frantically repeats the motion.

The mermaid slowly presses it against her wound. She clenches her teeth, but continues to wipe until the ball is soaked red. At that point, she grabs another and continues until the entire wound is cleaned. When she finishes, she grabs the cotton balls (getting a fistful of red sand in the process) and chucks it into the water with a hiss. Her tail creates a large splash, nearly soaking Shiemi in the process.

“We’re almost done!” Shiemi says, her hands raised in front of her. “Please calm down!” Her voice doesn’t shake anymore, and her heartbeat no longer pounds in her ears.

This mermaid could have killed her long ago, but she hasn’t. There’s no reason to be terrified of something – no, some _one_ – that’s just hurt and scared.

She grabs a roll of waterproof gauze – a necessity when you live near the sea – and looks down at it, lost. There’s no good way to mimic wrapping gauze around someone without actually wrapping gauze around someone.

She can, however, mimic a position that’ll make it easier for her to wrap the gauze. Shiemi leans backward and pushes her hands into the sand, lifting her hips off of the ground. The mermaid watches her, and soon mimics the position. Her arms shake with the effort, and she leans on one more than the other, tilting her entire body to one side. It'll have to do.

Shiemi unwraps the gauze and scoots closer to the mermaid. She murmurs apologies as she quickly wraps it around the thickest part of her tail. After a few layers, she pulls the gauze taut with one hand and uses the other to tug at the edge.

It’s a vague gesture, but the mermaid gets her meaning, and slices a clean line with her claws. Shiemi quickly grabs onto the end, and rummages around in the basket for the waterproof tape. After a bit of struggling, she seals the gauze.

It won’t hold for longer than a few days, but it’s better than nothing. She moves away, and the mermaid drops back onto the sand, exhausted. She runs a hand over the gauze. She isn’t pleased, but she also isn’t ripping it off. Shiemi considers that a victory.

“I’m done,” Shiemi says, causing the mermaid to snap her gaze over at her. Her eyes are sharp, but she seems to be waiting for Shiemi to continue treating her. With a giggle, Shiemi gathers the supplies back into the basket, grabs the handle, and stands up. The mermaid wiggles her head a little, confused.

Shiemi takes a step back. When the mermaid doesn’t react, she takes another, and then another. Finally, she seems to understand. She rolls onto her stomach and carefully shimmies her way back into the water when the tide brushes up against her. She swims a few feet away, looking down at herself in wonder. The gauze must be doing its job.

“Good luck!” Shiemi calls, waving to the mermaid with a smile. The mermaid’s face contorts in disgust before diving into the water. Shiemi watches as a sheet of purple dissipates into the blue sea.

A few days later, Shiemi stands on the shoreline when she sees a flash of purple scales off in the distance. Those same burgundy eyes peek out of the waves and watch her as she moves along the shore.


End file.
